The
Abundance of Monterey Bay, Creatures Grand and Small
Monterey Bay is a place of magnificent biodiversity.
Hey, itís a National Marine Sanctuary for good reason.
For the past 2 years, the Bayís magnificence has been
emphasized by the lingering visits of humpback whales,
killer whales and dolphins, attracted by hordes of the
tiny organisms they feed on, krill and anchovies.

This awesome display of nature has been captured in
images by Bonny Dooner Jodi Frediani, a photographer and
whale researcher. On Jan. 14, Jodi will share both her
photos and her expertise with us, in a presentation
entitled, ďAbundance in Monterey Bay: Anomaly,
Anachronism or Wave of the Future? - a Photographerís
Point of View.Ē

Jodiís camera has captured creatures from the rarely
observed leopard shark to leatherback turtles, among
other marine species, and her presentation will touch on
the history of marine life in our Bay.

For the past 13 years Jodi also has been swimming with
humpback whales on the Silver Bank, north of the
Dominican Republic, where she is in charge of gathering
fluke ID photos and collecting match-sightings data from
the Bankís humpback calving grounds.

Her sensational images have appeared in local, national
and international publications. You can check out her
photography at
jodifrediani.com.

Jodiís presentation will be a wonderful delight and an
educational experience for the whole family, so by all
means, bring your kids along.

Castle House Event Center Fight Continues

We were disappointed on Dec. 10 when the Planning
Commission voted 3-2 to uphold the permit granted to the
Sabankayas to rent their home at 4286 Bonny Doon Road,
known as the Castle House, for commercial weddings.
Although the permit only allows 4 weddings a year for up
to 50 people, ending at 7 p.m., we think that it sets a
bad precedent that could open the door for people of
many different professions to not only rent their homes
in Residential neighborhoods (RR, RA) for weddings but
for concerts, performances, or any commercial event. The
Planning Dept. and the 3 commissioners who approved this
permit ignored clear language in the Home Occupation
Ordinance that should have ruled out this permit on
several grounds, as was pointed out by our 3rd District
Commissioner, Rachel Dann. That ordinance is meant to
allow artists, artisans, teachers and other
professionals to practice their business for small
groups of customers or students.

Renting out oneís home for public events disturbs
neighbors and impacts their quality of life, as attested
by the almost 100 people who signed a petition opposing
the Castle House permit. The neighbors of the Castle
House, at great expense to themselves, have appealed the
decision to the Board of Supervisors. If it isnít
rejected there, an appeal to the Coastal Commission is
possible.

The RBDA Board feels that staging commercial events in
residential zones is a critical issue. Whether the
Castle House permit is finally approved or rejected, we
intend to lobby the Supervisors to make changes to the
Home Occupation rules to make it very plain that turning
your home into an event center is not a permitted use.

No Cannabis-ness
As Usual

The importance of, and level of concern about, cannabis
cultivation in Bonny Doon was emphasized Nov. 12 by the
large crowd, more than 80 people, who attended the RBDA
forum with top County officials and a representative of
the medical marijuana dispensary business.

The Board of Supervisors has been scrambling to come up
with rules that both minimize peopleís concernsóabout
crime, environmental degradation, water use, property
values and structural and forest firesóand the rights of
medical marijuana patients to have access to their
drugs. And in doing so the Supervisors must try not to
run afoul of the conflicting State and federal laws
regarding marijuana use and cultivation. The Supervisors
passed an ordinance last year that was a good first try,
and now they are trying to refine it. In November they
asked the Planning Dept. to come up with recommendations
for them to consider by January. The issue may come up
as early as the first meeting of the new year, Jan. 13.

The RBDA Board has been studying this issue, too, and
has some proposals that balance the rights of various
stakeholders, make sense, and are practically workable.
Among the things we are thinking of:

ē
Legal, commercial marijuana grows not be allowed in
Residential zones (RR and RA), but should be only
permitted in Agricultural (A), Commercial Agricultural
(CA), Commercial or Industrial zones.ē Pot
farming in agricultural zones must be on properties of
more than 10 acres and have at least a 300-foot
setback from neighboring houses.ē
Legal commercial cannabis farmers should be licensed
and a system established so that neighbors can tell
which farms are legal or illegal, but records should
be kept in such a way that federal authorities canít
subpoena them to prosecute legal growers. A possible
variation of this would be for dispensaries to
identify to the County which farmers they have
contracted to buy from.ē
Commercial marijuana farmers may only sell to Santa
Cruz County dispensaries and their patients.ē
Legal grows larger than the 10- by 10-foot area
permitted to a card-holding individual (i.e., a
collective of card-holding individuals farming as a
group) only be allowed in A, CA or Industrial or
Commercial Zones.ē
Grows on residential properties (RR, RA) may be
conducted only by card-holding, full-time residents of
the property, and should be limited to at most two
10-by-10 plots, regardless of the number of legal
cardholders in residence.

If you support these
recommendations, or have some of your own, please
communicate them to our new Supervisor, Ryan Coonerty,
early in 2015.

Draft
Cement Plant Reuse Plan Released

An analysis of various reuse options for the shuttered
CEMEX Davenport plant site was released by the Board of
Supervisors on Dec. 16 and is available for public
comment until Feb. 13. Utilizing Community Development
Block Grant Funds the Planning Dept. hired consultants
to prepare the analysis and conduct a Town Hall meeting
and community survey.

Use of the site as a cement factory dates back more than
100 years. CEMEX has provided only limited information
about the buildings and facilities but the Polanco
Redevelopment Act, AB 440, enacted in 2013, can require
property owners to provide documentation about
contamination of soils, groundwater, cement kiln dust
piles and historically obsolete buildings and equipment.

The draft plan includes the input of the Town Hall
meeting in Davenport and discusses the many challenges
involved in reuse of the property. At least 4 years will
be needed before a reuse option could proceed, assuming
there is no major groundwater contamination to
remediate. You can read the Reuse Plan by going to
the Board of Supervisors website (co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Government/BoardofSupervisors.aspx).
Click on Meeting Agendas & Minutes, go to the Dec.
16 agenda, and click on item 47. Submit your comments to
Barbara.Mason@santacruzcounty.us.

Coast Farms Protection Ensured

The agricultural parcels along Hwy. 1 still owned by the
Trust for Public Land cannot be developed for other uses
now that the Board of Supervisors accepted the
Conservation Easements at their Dec. 9 meeting. However,
TPL can still sell the parcels for trophy homes situated
to farm the view.

TPL had resisted going to the Coastal Commission to
obtain a Coastal Development Permit that would protect
the agricultural status of the parcels, but relented
under pressure brought by legal action by Save Our
Agricultural Lands and some Davenport residents. The
RBDA Board joined that legal action because we felt it
was important to defend the land use rules and
processes that help retain the rural atmosphere of Bonny
Doon and our agrarian coast.

Rather than fight in court, TPL went before the Coastal
Commission in April 2012 and was granted the CDP,
allowing them to reconfigure Coast Dairies' parcel lines
so they could transfer the bulk of the land to the
Bureau of Land Management. The conditions of approval
for that permit required TPL to reinstate the original
Agricultural Conservation Easement from 2008 and expand
and apply easements to other reconfigured parcels that
were created as part of the Coast Dairies/BLM
transaction. Those parcels include some uphill grazing
land and leaseholds that are home to Swanton Berry Farms
and Fambrini's farm along Hwy. 1.

RBDA Board Elections

At the November RBDA meeting, 4 people were nominated to
fill the 4 expiring terms on the Board, and a 5th, Jeff
Alford, who was appointed to the board in 2014 to fill
an open seat, will need to be ratified by the membership
to fill the remaining year of that term. The nominees
are:

Jeff Alford
I was active in the very successful campaign (Yes on
Measure P) to ensure that a saltwater desalination plant
can only be built if the City of Santa Cruz voters
approve it. Iím a native Californian. I came to Santa
Cruz with my wife in 1995 and lived in the city until we
moved to Bonny Doon in 2012. Iíve been an attorney
since 1981, working at different times with a legal
publishing company, with non-profit environmental and
poverty law organizations, and as a sole practitioner.
Iím a long-time member of the Sierra Club and several
other environmental organizations. In my free time I am
passionate about hiking, camping, swimming, gardening,
and traveling abroad. Iím thrilled to be living in Bonny
Doon, and Iím enthusiastic about working with the RBDA
Board to protect our shared environmental values.

Andy Davidson
I am a software engineer at Apple and a 15-year resident
of Bonny Doon. My wife is a lifelong resident of Santa
Cruz. She grew up on Branciforte Drive, an area that
used to be very similar to todayís Bonny Doon. One main
reason we moved to here was Bonny Doonís rural nature
and excellent school, which both of my children
attended. I have been very active in several youth
organizations, in particular the Boy Scouts, as
Cubmaster, Summer Camp Director, and Parent Committee
member for 12 years. Some change is inevitable. Bonny
Doon is a diverse community. Itís important to listen to
all voices to ensure that the Bonny Doon of the future
is one we choose, while not losing what makes this place
special.

Marty Demare
I want to continue to help the RBDA Board with its
longstanding service to the Bonny Doon area. I remain
interested in the future of the Coast Dairies property
and the San Vicente Redwoods property. As we begin a new
planning era with the Bureau of Land Management, I look
forward to representing our members' interests in
environmental protection and private property rights
during the process of identifying appropriate uses of
Coast Dairies. I hope my terms on the Board have
demonstrated my commitment to representing the our
membersí desire to keep the area ďrural and natural.Ē

Betsy Firebaugh
I have lived in Bonny Doon for over 15 years, in Santa
Cruz County since 1986, and grew up in Monterey during
the 70s. Bonny Doon is a unique and special community
because of the close connection we have with nature. I
love the fact that on any given day the only noise you
might hear is the wind through the trees or a hawk
calling down the valley.
I have seen too many lovely small rural communities in
this area become overrun with housing developments,
tourist buses, conference centers, shopping centers and
traffic. It happens slowly, and before you fully realize
it. I have long admired the proactive work the RBDA has
done to keep the community informed and advocate for the
maintenance of our quality of life. We must continue to
actively work on ensuring Bonny Doon stays rural,
working within the community, with elected officials and
taking action. I was honored to be considered to serve
on the RBDA Board.

Tom Hearn
Serving on the Board for the last 7 years, first as
treasurer, then as Highlander editor, and now as Board
Chair has provided me an opportunity to better
understand the diverse community we live in and the
elements of change that potentially threaten the Bonny
Doon we know and love. I want to continue on the Board
to provide service to the community and to foster an
environment that is inclusive of the broader community
interests while preserving the rural and natural setting
that makes this place so special to all of us.

That Time, Again!

This is the annual plea to all of our loyal supporters,
and to those of you that support us ďin principle,Ē that
itís time to renew your membership or to make a
commitment that you may have considered, but just
havenít got around to as yet.
The organization is now on a solid financial footing
thanks to the generous outpouring of community support,
but the fact is that a large proportion of that support
comes from a precious few members of the community who
donate far above the baseline amount of the dues we
request.

The RBDA annual budget is almost entirely committed to
publishing the Highlander, which goes out to every
resident in Bonny Doon whether they own or rent, pay
dues or not. We believe this newsletter alone is worth
the dues we request, but, in addition, we also sponsor
community meetings (for which we pay room rental and
insurance) that offer a forum for issues of interest to
the community at large; again, open to anyone.

The bottom line is that our recurring expenses are not
fully sustained by the current membership base, and we
need your support to keep us on an even keel.

The Board took note again at the last General Meeting
that fewer than half of the folks who attended were dues
paying members. If you like our meetings, if you like
this newsletter, and most of all, if you like what the
RBDA has done to maintain the environment and the
community of Bonny Doon that you love, then please help
out in any way possible. If you are a member, please
send a donation or talk a neighbor into joining. If you
arenít a member, please consider joining. Twenty dollars
isnít a lot to pay to keep your corner of the world
rural and natural.

Unless you joined for multiple years, all memberships
expire on January 31, 2014. Please
renew today!

RBDA to Restructure

The RBDA has been in existence for almost 60 years, and
in 1988 formally became a tax-exempt non-profit
501(c)(4) organization. We recently have found through
research that there are some advantages to
incorporation, as many similar organizations have done.

We have hired an attorney (who charges a very reasonable
rate for non-profits) to help with this process. He
suggested that we consider changing the tax-exempt
status of the organization from a 501(c)(4) to a
501(c)(3), which would allow donors to take a tax
deduction and also give board officers more protection.
Reviewing the way the RBDA has always operated, the
attorney advised us that our limited political lobbying
activity would still be allowed.

The Board has started this process and we will keep you
advised as we proceed. We expect it will require several
months to complete.

Proposed
RBDA Bylaws Change

An organizationís
Bylaws are a dynamic affair and must adapt to meet the
needs of changing conditions and technologies. The
RBDA Board is recommending the following change to our
Bylaws, which havenít been updated since they were
adopted in 2002.

The proposed change was
read to the Membership at the Nov. 12 RBDA meeting,
and is as follows [new language in Bold type,
deleted language in Strikethrough]:

Article IVE. The Membership
Coordinator shall review applications for membership,
maintain the membership roster, and exclusively
control access to member contact information, with the
following exceptions:

(1) Upon request by the
officer designated by the Executive Board to serve on
the Nominating Committee, the Membership Coordinator
shall provide a current copy of the membership roster
to that officer, who shall use it for purposes of
determining the eligibility of a member who has been
nominated to serve on the Executive Board or for
purposes of recruiting members to nominate as
candidates for the Executive Board;

(2) Upon request by the
officer designated by the Executive Board as the
administrator of the Association's Facebook group, the
Membership Coordinator shall provide a current copy of
the membership roster to that officer, who shall use
it for purposes of determining whether a person
applying for inclusion in that group is an Association
member. Upon request by a member of the Association,
the Membership Coordinator shall forward any important
communication related to the objectiverelating to an objective or operation of the
Association to the membership by e-mail, direct mail,
and/or or notice in the Highlander newsletter. The
Membership Coordinator shall pass his or her records
on to his or her successor.

The change must be approved by the Membership at the
Jan. 14, 2015 Annual Meeting.

Support
the RBDA by renewing your membership now: all
1-year memberships expire on January 31st.

Ideas
for RBDA Meeting Topics

We are always open to suggestions for interesting
programs and speakers at our bimonthly (except July)
RBDA public meetings.What are you interested in? Local flora and fauna,
gardening, environmental and political issues, Bonny
Doon history or geology, public safety?What were some of your favorite speakers or
presentations at past RBDA meetings?Were there any that you would like us to repeat?Please email us with your ideas and comments at board@rbda.us.

Bonny Doon's
voice in preserving our special quality of
life,
The Highlander is mailed free to Bonny Doon
residents prior to the
RBDA General Meetings, which are usually
held on second Wednesdays of
January, March, May, July, September and
November.
We encourage you to participate.

Send
mail correspondence to the Highlander Editor
at the above address,
or by email, below.